Top Free Software Downloads of August 2012

Every other fortnight, there’s some softwares which we use and test them for you. This time its the same .. we have collected 20 softwares which have been around for some time and some new softwares which have been showing good reliability.

The software list below has assorted categories like – system tools, image viewers, bit torrent clients, screen capture software etc. We hope you will like these software and we will be putting a list again.

System tool

System Mechanic Free 11

Min Requirements: windows xp/vista/7/8

File Size: 28mb

Although it’s a cut down version of a paid-for program, `system mechanic free still has a lot to offer. it can fix PC problems, declutter your hard disk and enhance system performance.

An all-in-one check will identify areas that are lowering your system’s health and security, and let you repair some or all of the issues. It will also provide some recommendations to help improve things further, such as identifying unwanted start-up programs and repairable security vulnerabilities.

In some cases you’ll be able to fix the problems it highlights; in other instances you’ll be prompted to upgrade to the paid-for edition.

The internet security tool will check that you have an active anti-malware program installed and running, and that the windows firewall is enabled. You’ll be able to see further information, refresh the status, and turn off monitoring if required.

Probably the most useful part of the suite is the toolbox. This includes a selection of all-in-one tools for tuning, accelerating, repairing and cleaning up your system. There are also individual tools for tackling specific tasks.

These are sorted into various categories such as increase performance, enhance protection, clean up system clutter, and repair problems. The toolbox includes a disk defragmenter, start-up optimizer, junk cleaner, registry tuner, file eraser, duplicate file finder, and an advanced uninstaller.

The reports section will let you see at a glance your hard drive and system memory usage, and view past changes made by the software. The odometer keeps a running total of how many repairs and optimizations the software has made so far, and how much drive space it has freed up.

Hardcopy is a handy tool for creating instant print-outs. Once installed, tap the print screen (Prtscn) key to send a copy of whatever’s on screen directly to your printer. Pressing alt

+Prtscn will print just the current window, as will clicking the green print button that hardcopy places next to the minimize button. The software also includes a standard screen-capture and editing tool, should you prefer to save your view as a digital image.

As you can probably guess from the name, this tiny tool adds sequential numbers to all the icons on your Taskbar and in the system tray. Once you know an application’s number, you can quickly switch to it by holding down the windows key and pressing the corresponding digit on your keyboard. It also works with speech-recognition software.

Windows 7 comes with numerous built-in games, including FreeCell, hearts, and minesweeper and mahjong titans. This installation-free tool lets you activate the hidden debug mode for any of the games to unlock cheats, additional game-play options and interface tweaks.

Once the mode is enabled, restart your pc for the changes to take effect. The available options can be selected through the new debug menu which will appear when you launch a game.

Competition

Avanquest VHS 2 DVD Converter

Available to buy now priced 51.04, Avanquest’s VHS to DVD converter is an effective and affordable solution to preserve and safeguard precious video footage recorded on VHS cassettes.

The software includes an USB video converter and an audio-video cable so everything you need to transfer your old recordings is inside the box. For more information visit www.avanquest.co.uk.

To enter, email webusercomp@dennis.co.uk with ‘converter’ in the subject line.

Bittorrent has its own search engine for finding and downloading torrents, and also offers support for RSS feeds. You can manage the speed of uploads and downloads, either globally or individually.

Tribler

Min Requirements: windows xp/vista/7, mac os x or linux

File Size: 42.6mb

This advanced bittorrent tool lets you search for content, see what other people are downloading, browse channels, and stream videos using the on-demand option. Content can be shared with other Tribler users.

As well as torrents, Bitcomet can download files via http and ftp. The channels column gives you links to popular torrents sites, and signing up for a free account will give you extra features and faster downloads.

Windows task manager can shut down unwanted or misbehaving system processes, but process lasso is a much more advanced tool for the job. as well as letting you quickly close troublesome processes (and prevent them from running again, if necessary), the program will keep an eye on your system and intelligently adjust the priority of any processes which attempt to hog your processor, helping to improve your pc’s speed and stability.

The latest version of the software has been tweaked to make it easier to use, and introduces several new features, including an option to prevent your pc or display going to sleep.

PCS run smoothly most of the time, but if they go wrong, it can be catastrophic. This free set of tools from Lazesoft can recover deleted data, repair a corrupt windows installation, retrieve a forgotten windows password, and back up or clone your hard disk.

The recovery suite can be burned to a CD or saved to a USB drive. When you run into problems, just boot from the CD or USB drive, and choose the options you need from the menu. When installing using the cnet downloader, take special care to decline the bundled extras (the ‘i do not accept’ option for buzzdock is less than obvious).

This photo viewer displays panoramas in a choice OS sizes, including full screen, and lets you scroll the image from side to side or spin it 360 degrees. You can control how it moves manually or set the program to auto-scroll and adjust the speed at which the image revolves. The program works with any panoramic photos, provided they’re in jpeg or bmp format, and it can also be used to display a sequence of images.

As well as displaying panoramas (with or without sound) you can use the software to turn them into screensavers and videos.

Reader Recommends

If you like looking at the night sky, you’ll love worldwide telescope . it turns your pc into a virtual telescope so you can explore the cosmos close-up an learn the names of the different moons and stars. The image quality is amazing.

Mouse tool

MouseFighter

Min Requirements: windows xp/vista/7

File Size: 1.7mb

This tiny program lets you take control of your mouse pointer using just the keyboard. Hold down the caps lock key to activate it, and then use the cursor keys to move the arrow around the screen. Pressing A or S will simulate a right or left click. You can also adjust the speed at which the cursor moves.

Atic Atac is a modern remake of one of the best games ever released for the ZX spectrum. Set in a castle, it challenges you to avoid or destroy enemies and collect the scattered pieces that make up the golden key of ACG. You can choose to play as a wizard, knight or serf.

This update fixes several problems in opera 12, including a flaw with the comment system Disgus, which crashes or certain websites, and a bug that affects inserted images in emails. There have also been various performance enhancements to make the browser more stable and secure.

The updated RoboForm fixes several problems relating to its compatibility with browsers. These include browsers closing when you choose the RoboForm start page from the program’s option screen. You can also now use the alt+z shortcut to fill in password in chrome.

Intel has launched lots of new hardware in the last year, so this tool for getting detailed statistics about your system has been updated to match. It detects all the latest Intel chip sets and processors, as well as external drives, Priters and much more.

RegScanner is a tiny tool that lets you quickly search the registry for specific values. With this updated version, you can now exclude certain keys- such as HKLM\software \classes- from the scan to speed up your searches.

This powerful privacy cleaner, which we first wrote about in issue 297 (bit.ly/issue297), has added new options to its clean button and improved its clean-up of chrome and free download manager files. it also now lets you create a portable version to store on a USB stick.